


It Claws Its Way Into Your Heart

by Apprendere



Series: Drips and Drabs-Marvel [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: And Steve and Nat and Clint, Bucky adopts a cat, But they have a lot less screen time, Fluff, Gen, fluffy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 18:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12636885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apprendere/pseuds/Apprendere
Summary: Bucky adopts a cat while on mission and brings it back to the tower.





	It Claws Its Way Into Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I finished writing this nearly an hour after my usual bedtime and decided to post it right away. So it may make less and less sense as it goes on, but I just wanted to write about Bucky adopting a cat because it brings him dead things. Then I started writing the bit in the tower and it just kept going and I couldn't figure out a nice ending.
> 
> This may vaguely belong in my au where bucky recovers from trauma by learning hairstyling, but I'll have to think about it. In the meantime, if you want to know what I'm talking about, it's on my profile. Which you probably already guessed, but I'm tired and want to say lots of things. Words. All the words.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy it! It's just a bunch of drabble-ish fluff. Like, all fluff.

Lovely, another dead body in the kitchen. Bucky leans down picks it up with a plastic bag in his metal hand.  
  
“If you don’t stop bringing me corpses,you don’t get to come with me when I leave.” And the problem would stop once he got back to the tower. All the offerings were rodents, and there weren’t that many birds that visited the tower anyway, right?  
  
It looks at him, rumbling audible across the room, and blinks slowly.  
  
Bucky sighs as he finishes double tying the recently alive rat into the trash bag.  
  
“I hope you’re not trying to say I live in a rat’s nest, because I do not live here cat. Rat nests do not exist in my space. Especially not after Clint convinced me to try ratting my hair.”  
  
It just stares. And meows. Can’t forget the meows.  
  
***  
  
“So Buckminster, how was the mission, good info?”  
  
Tony doesn’t even look up when Bucky enters, absorbed in digital paper for SI probably. Good. That gives him a chance to release the monster without protest. He’s really glad JARVIS gave him the all clear on allergies and permissions without alerting other residents of the tower.  
  
“Fine.”  
  
Bucky sets the carrier down out of the sightlines of the entrances and opens the door.  
  
“What about the home front? How’ve things been here?”  
  
“Fine. Really great rumor about Steve going around.”  
  
It sniffs and noses its way out of the carrier and slips between Bucky’s legs and the counter.  
  
“Tony, no.” Steve walks in and Tony finally looks up.  
  
“Nat snuck up and startled him when he was giving an interview after we had a little spat with an incompetent goldfish villain. He made this horrible screech and now people are saying that the superserum must’ve made him part bald eagle.”  
  
Steve’s face is in his hand. Bucky takes the moment of inattention and picks up his mission stray.  
  
“Tony, it’s just a rumor. It’ll die down eventually.”  
  
“Your costume literally has wings and a hood. You’re friends with Falcon and Hawkeye. I’m just waiting for someone to say that one of the rest of us must be a falconer to manage the team so well.”  
  
“Hey, remember when we were talking about other codenames?” Clint ducks in. “We totally should’ve made Steve be Eagle One.”  
  
Natasha walks around Clint, who is still leaning in around the doorway. “So whose is that?”  
  
“It’s not my codename, and we decided to go ahead with just superhero names anyway, so we can just drop this whole discussion.”  
  
“Not what I was talking about.” Natasha pats Steve on the shoulder and sidles over by Bucky. She holds her hand out for it’s inspection.  
  
“It’s mine.”  
  
Steve and Tony finally look back at Bucky. Clint finally swings all the way into the room.  
  
“It?” Natasha quirks an eyebrow.  
  
“Is that an animal?” Tony recoils slightly.  
  
“Goddamnit Bucky.”  
  
“Language” Bucky, Clint and Tony are in eerie synchrony while Natasha says it after they finish with a highly arched eyebrow.  
  
“What is its name?” Natasha restores the topic of conversation to the creature she is currently petting.  
  
“Well-”  
  
“Don’t listen to him. He’s been terrible at naming things for nearly a hundred years.”  
  
“Steve.” Bucky growls.  
  
“Go on, I want to hear this!” Tony seems to have recovered from the shock and is now leaning eagerly over the counter.  
  
“I wanted to name it after black widows. It kept bringing me dead things, with missing heads, at the hideout.”  
  
“She’s a girl then?”  
  
“They grow up so fast.” Tony sniffs. “Already having babies.”  
  
“Shush. I have no clue how to tell, so I haven’t been calling it much of anything.”  
  
They all pause as no one jumps to volunteer for the task.  
  
“Fine. Fine. I’ll do it.”  
  
“Tony? Why do you know how to sex cats?”  
  
“Rhodey’s family is big on cats okay. There may have been kittens on a holiday visit once.”  
  
Tony greets the cat, holding out a hand for smells before trying to take the cat. It resists. Tony starts laughing as it climbs Bucky’s shoulder to get away.  
  
“How can you miss that? It’s a very male cat.”  
  
“How can you tell? You’ve barely touched it.” Clint looks disgruntled.  
  
“By its big fuzzy balls. Seriously, giant. How did you miss that?”  
  
“I was on a mission Stark. Also, back off. He’s uncomfortable.”  
  
Tony retreats to his seat and the others step back. The cat’s claws retract just far enough to maintain traction.  
  
“How about Orion then?” Tony offers. “Great hunter, probably carried home lots of dead things.”  
  
Bucky hums, considering. “We’ll see. Make sure he’s comfortable here first.”  
  
“Yeah, speaking of, do you have anything for cats? Food, litterbox, toys? No? Well, we can get Orion the best anyway. Do you know what he’s used to eating? Best to switch foods gradually. Jarvis, stock us up for kitty paradise. Bucky’s floor at least, we’ll have to figure out floor permissions somehow. Probably get a litterbox and bowls for the communal floor too. Oooh, boxes. Orion needs boxes.”  
  
Bucky tunes out of the stream of Tony trying to order many expensive cat things and Steve trying to convince otherwise. He strokes the cat slowly. It settles more deeply on his shoulder. He feels just the faintest purr on his shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> I like hearing things that people say. Whether you have something to say or just happened to like the fic.  
> I also usually like constructive criticism, and you're welcome to give it if you want, but this isn't intended to be a finished piece.  
> I'm kind of just rambling on about what I normally want to put in my author notes.


End file.
